The True King
by AM83220
Summary: The last reflections of Astos, King of the Dark Elves, from Final Fantasy.


_Disclaimer: I own neither the first Final Fantasy game, nor any of the characters the game featured. _

**The True King**

The sound of the double doors being thrown open echoed endlessly throughout the cavernous hall. For the figure on the throne, however, the warning provided was unnecessary; he had sensed the Crown's magical aura as soon as the four adventurers had crossed the boundaries of his keep.

They had done it! The fools had actually managed to win back the Crown from those abyss-spawned, thieving Wizards! The key to all of his plans was once more within his reach!

For years now Astos had sought a way to take his rightful place as ruler of Elfland, after his parents had tried and failed to seize the kingdom through direct military conquest. Though their effort had claimed the lives of many Elves, including the false King and Queen, it had ultimately been in vain. His mother and father had perished themselves, along with far too many Dark Elves. He had been left alone to lead his people, just as the young Elvish Prince had been. Whereas his counterpart had foolishly refused to take the title of king, claiming he was not yet worthy of it, Astos had immediately declared himself King of the Dark Elves and had turned his attention to finishing what his parents had begun.

He had quickly concluded that his people now lacked the numbers to prevail in a second armed struggle; it would be decades before the invasion's losses could be replenished. He was forced to seek an alternate route to his goal and in pursuit of such he had thrown himself into the study of magic and history. Having been trained in the mystical arts all of his life Astos was as much a scholar as he was a warrior, yet his quest was a challenge which would stymie the most learned sage. He needed to procure a devastating advantage for himself and his people, something which would enable them to overcome the Elves' greater numbers.

He had at one point considered seeking the help of one of the legendary four Fiends, but had subsequently dismissed the notion. At best they would treat him as a viceroy, ruling in their stead. No, when he took Elfland, all within would know beyond doubt that he, Astos, was the supreme ruler! He was rightful heir to the crown usurped so many centuries ago, the true king, and he would not serve another-not now, not ever.

At last, in an obscure text about the dragons of Cardia, he had found what he thought might be the answer. With the coming of the Fiends the Dragon King, Bahamut, had taken a bold course to encourage and inspire his people. Alone he had fought his way into their occupied ancestral citadel and there had left behind a token of his courage. Whichever individual or group was able to return this token to Bahamut would be magically empowered by the Dragon King.

In terms of sorcery Bahamut was said to be the equal of Tiamat, Fiend of Wind and the mightiest of the four! With his enchantment enhancing them the Dark Elves would be an awesome, unstoppable force! They would be able to crush the occupants of Elfland beneath their boots!

Astos had tirelessly researched the Castle of Ordeal and the dragons and soon two major difficulties presented themselves. The first was that the Castle had been mystically sealed; its guardian would only permit entrance to those bearing the Crown, Scepter, Pendant or Ring of Bahamut. Those were the keys designated by the dragon king, and any group seeking to try the Castle would need to present one of them. The latter two had already been lost within the castle walls by the failure of previous expeditions; only the Crown and the Scepter remained.

The second problem was one of transportation. The Castle of Ordeal was far to the north, across the sea, and he simply had no means of bringing his people there. Even if they constructed a fleet of ships, his magical scrying had revealed to him that there was no safe place in the North to land them.

Once again Asto pushed the limits of his knowledge, seeking solutions to these new problems. He learned to meld a magic-user's natural ability to detect magical auras with his scrying, enabling him to cover vast distances in search of the Crown and Scepter without leaving the security of his castle. He also learned of the technology of the Lefeinish, of their Airships and matter transporters.

The last Airship was said to be hidden somewhere on this continent. His studies did not show where, but he was able to detect a powerful source of Air magic in a cave far to the east. Presumably that was the Floater stone which powered the Airship.

He also discovered the means to enter the Mirage Tower. It and the Sky Castle were the last major structures of Lefeinish origin, and surely held the secret to matter transportation.

Bringing together his people in a grand gathering, Astos split the Dark Elves into three groups. The first would be led by Tyet, and would make their way to the cave to try to recover the Floater. The second group would be led by Morok, and would seek to infiltrate the Sky Castle to harness the technology of matter transportation.

The second was by far the more challenging assignment, not only because of the difficulty of puzzling out how matter transporters worked, but because it would involve the seemingly impossible task of gaining entrance to the Sky Castle. He had given this mission to Morok primarily because he knew his cousin coveted the throne, and this was a way to remove his relative from the scene while still making use of Morok's talents.

One of father's favorite dictums, and one which Astos had always remembered, had been to be frugal, wasting neither wealth nor people. Make maximum use of both before parting with them.

The third group, consisting of only himself and his royal bodyguards, would seek out the Crown. The Crown had somehow made its way south to the port of Pravoka and so was far more accessible than the Scepter, which remained on one of the Caridian isles.

The first two groups would return to the castle when their respective task was accomplished. As long as either Tyet or Morok was successful, the remaining group could quickly be retrieved and they could launch their expedition to the Castle of Ordeal.

Further scrying revealed the Crown to be in the possession of a rogue human, a

pirate captain named Bikke. Astos' first instinct was naturally to seek out and slay the human, taking the Crown from his cooling corpse. Further reflection, however, suggested that such a course might be unnecessarily difficult and wasteful. The overland journey to Pravoka would be a long one, fraught with much peril; both the Dwarves and the upstart humans of Coneria were his enemies, and neither nation would hesitate to attack him if he were discovered within their territory.

Then, too, might not the pirate captain and his ship prove to be of use to him in the future? He had seen this Bikke's greed, and had little doubt that the human would do anything for more wealth. In the end, remembering his father's saying, Astos used a spell of telepathy to speak to Bikke. The Dark Elf King identified himself, gave his location, and promised five times the monetary worth of the Crown in exchange for it.

Bikke and his crew came ashore at Elfland, and Astos and his bodyguard were waiting to meet them. It was vexing to pay so much from the treasury to this lesser creature, but when he took the Crown in his hands all of his anger faded away. This was it. Here, at long last, was the key to his birthright, his destiny! He began to laugh in delight, the first time he had done so since the death of his parents, even as visions of an Elfland in flames danced behind his eyes.

The journey back to the castle seemed much shorter than before, yet barely had he arrived home when a scouting party of Elves appeared on his doorstep!

He had hurried to the sound of battle, in spite of the urging of the two guards at his side, and indeed his magic had been necessary to ensure that none of the enemy escaped. His bodyguards did manage to take one captive, whom Astos interrogated without mercy. In this manner he learned that the thrice-cursed Elven Prince was mustering Elfland's army to locate and destroy the Dark Elves. The scouts had been sent because the Prince suspected that his enemies might have sought refuge in the abandoned castle. The seemingly deserted nature of the structure had prompted the puzzled Elves to venture inside, where they had been ambushed by Astos' watchful bodyguard.

Upon hearing this Astos had butchered the captive Elf in an utter rage, screaming vile curses in tongues long dead. Afterwards he had stood alone in the cell, trembling and trying to regain control of himself.

He had been so _certain_ his enemy would maintain the uneasy truce which had existed since the end of the last war, had assumed that the traditional timidity of the Elves would keep them on the defensive. Surely they would never dare to venture out and offer battle to the Dark Elves!

In spit of all of his careful planning he had still erred, and that one error could wreck all. With his nation united behind him and the advantage of the castle's defenses he might, perhaps, have been able to weather the storm. As it stood, though, his people had scattered to the four winds and he had only the Royal Guard with him. Moreover, the disappearance of the scouts sent north to the castle would surely draw the Elven Prince and his forces.

He and his bodyguard could not possibly hold against the assembled Elven army alone, yet neither could they flee; not only was the castle the appointed rendezvous with the rest of his people, but the Prince would surely alert the Dwarfs as to his intentions. The foul cave-dwellers would be alert for any incursion into their territory by the Dark Elves, and so he was caught between hammer and anvil.

Even if he by some miracle he was able to escape the trap he was in, he would have to notify Morok and Tyet of his new location telepathically, and admitting he had been chased off like a cur would result in a great loss of face; it might even precipitate a coup, and now above all times he needed his people wholly united for the great ordeal ahead of them.

He couldn't fight, he couldn't run . . . what was left for him to do but die? After the venting of much fury and much thought the Dark Elf monarch finally arrived at a possible solution. The Elven Prince was the one organizing this offensive; like Astos, he was the sole leader of his nation. If he could but eliminate the Prince, then Elfland would surely fall into terror and disarray, and the threat of aggressive action would be ended.

He could try to send in one of his bodyguards in as an assassin. No, the chances of anyone successfully making their way to the Prince without being detected were too low to even consider. He alone might actually be able come within striking distance of the Prince, if he used the spell which allowed him to cloak himself in the guise of another, but he could not risk his own life in such a hazardous endeavor. Besides, none of the weapons he possessed were sure enough; even his death magic would most likely be shrugged off by one as strong of will as the Prince.

Wait, though, there was one enchantment which might work . . . three hours of frantic reading back over old tomes produced the magic he had recalled: that of Endless Sleep, a far more powerful versions of the standard sleep spell. Such would not kill the Prince, but it would plunge him into a slumber from which he would not awaken. For Astos' purposes, that was almost as good.

The spell could only be broken by the use of certain herb, and the only one on the entire continent who might have access to this weed was the witch Matoya. He could try to slay her . . . but her mastery of magic made her an even more daunting foe than the Elven Prince.

Again he sought another way, a less direct method of neutralizing his enemy, and again he found it. The witch required a special glass in order to see. If he could take if from her, then what aid would she render to the Elves while her own needs went unmet? She would demand that they first bring her the glass she had lost, and he would ensure that it remained safely in his keeping.

First, though, he had to deal the threat posed by the false monarch, and he had to do it immediately, before the army marched north. That very night Astos assembled his bodyguard and they journeyed under cover of darkness to the edge of the capital. There he launched a sneak attack, gambling that as soon as word reached the Prince he would come personally to repel the invaders. It was a risk, crediting the usurper with courage equal to that which he possessed, but it was a chance which had to be taken; there was no other option.

The fighting was fierce and bloody, Astos himself being wounded in the shoulder and thigh, and many of his bodyguards were slain before the Elven Prince at last entered the fray.

Astos immediately intoned the words of the spell and watched in glee as his rival ruler abruptly crumpled to the ground, to the shock and horror of all the Elves within sight.

That moment of paralyzed disbelief was the opening Astos needed to withdraw and he and his men immediately fell back in retreat. He had counted on the confusion, the fear of an ambush, and the Elves' urge to protect their sovereign to allow him and his subjects to escape, and he was almost right. Only a token force gave chase, and they were easily dealt with. When Astos arrived back at his castle his spirits were soaring like a dragon, though but three of his bodyguards remained alive.

Now it remained only for him to ensure that Matoya would not aid the Elves. This was where his spell of illusion would prove useful. He would pose as a lone human traveler and, once he was near enough, he would snatch her crystal and be gone in an instant.

He could not take his bodyguards with him, nor could he risk taking the Crown; Matoya might sense its magical aura and if so it would surely arouse her curiosity and suspicion. So, leaving his Crown and bodyguards at the keep, he contacted Bikke, promising the pirate gold to come and transport him to the port nearest Matoya's cave.

Journeying in the company of lesser beings was a trial, but the fearful respect they showed him was some compensation. Instructing the pirate captain to wait, the Dark Elf ruler made his way toward the of the witch's cave. Watching, he waited for her to emerge and when she did so he approached her, claiming to be in need of her aid. She raised her crystal to see him and like a bolt of lightning he snatched it from her hand before turning to flee.

Lightning was indeed what followed him, and fire, but without her crystal she could not see to direct her attacks and he was merely singed by her fury.

When Bikke had returned him to the southern port he paid the buccaneer the agreed-upon price in gold. He entered the doors of his castle with a smile that fled from his face when he smelled the blood. Racing into his throne room he saw his last three bodyguards lying dead on the floor. His first confused thought was that he must have been wrong; instead of collapsing into chaos and assuming a defensive position around their fallen leader, the Elves must have attacked! Then, among the bodies of his people, he spotted the corpses of half a dozen Wizards.

Wizards! That was who had attacked? But why? He had no quarrel with them, nor they with him. Why would they assail his castle? What could they want . . . from . . . him?

In that instant he knew the answer. He stretched out with his magical sense to confirm what he had already guessed, and yes: the Crown was gone.

And so Astos had sank back onto his throne, numb with shock. By evening the shock had given way to black despair. He had come so far, done so much, but this last blow . . .

Oh, he had found the Crown again easily enough; it was in the lair of the Wizards, in the deepest level of the Marsh Cave. The problem lay in regaining it. Clearly the Wizards would not surrender their enchanted prize for a reward as paltry as mundane wealth. No, they were not mercenaries like the human; they would give up the Crown only after giving up their lives in its defense, as his bodyguards had done.

He was the leader of the Dark Elf nation, a puissant magic-user and a skilled fighter, yet alone he feared he lacked the power to venture into the Marsh Cave and return. Every inhabitant would be allied with the Wizards, and although he might cut a swathe through them, he could not kill them all.

Nor could he confess this failure to his people. He had thought it likely that news of his fleeing would lead to a coup; he was certain that his losing the Crown would. No, his subjects could never know of this defeat. Yet without their help, how could he regain the Crown?

The only possible course of action he could devise involved calling upon Bikke's pirates. If he could hire them to accompany him, he might have sufficient sword fodder to make it to the Crown, slay the remaining Wizards, and escape. Once more he established telepathic contact with Bikke, only to discover that the human was a pirate captain no longer; a group of four adventurers had magically slept and then slaughtered his crew. Bikke had given over to them his ship and swore that he was now retired.

Unable to believe how fortune had once again betrayed him, Astos sought out the ship with his Sight and observed those on board. His hope that they might be willing to serve as his mercenaries soon faded, yet when he saw them dock in Elfland he continued watching them. He witnessed their visit to the Castle of Elf, where they learned of the foul Prince's plight. He beheld their journey back across the ocean, to Matoya, and he knew she had told them of the loss of her crystal.

They would be coming for him next.

He had lost the Crown, his bodyguards were dead, and these adventurers would surely try to slay him! For a wild moment Astos feared that the end had truly come, that all was lost!

Then he had heard again the voice of his father, teaching him the value of frugality, of making the greatest use of whatever you had. He had lost a treasure of inestimable value and what did he have? He had four humans, humans whose skill in combat he had already noted, on their way to find and destroy him. They sought the witch's crystal . . . but what if he could turn them to seeking what he had lost?

When they arrived he was ready to greet them in the guise of a human king. He had promised them a reward for bringing him his Crown, and they had believed him! Now, as his unwitting pawns approached his throne, the king's dark heart beat faster in excitement and exultation.

He had long ago thought through this confrontation. His first act would to be to kill their leader with the death magic, Rub. As with the Elfish nation, cut off the head and the body would perish. The remaining three adventurers would be confused, without leadership, and though the battle might be hard, he would surely triumph over them, and the Crown would be his once more!

His destiny was at hand.

_Author's Notes: The thought of doing this story has been with me for many years, ever since I finished the first Final Fantasy game. Like most players, I was shocked to learn that Garland was behind everything, but for a multitude of reasons my favorite villain by far remained Astos, King of the Dark Elves. I enjoyed the way he manipulated you into retrieving his Crown, and I was impressed he was the only boss who could kill a party member without fail; Astos' Rub always slays the first character. I even liked his menacing appearance! I was disappointed, however, that he would go to all this trouble for the sake of a mere crown; it seemed a vain and petty goal for such a neat villain. This feeling endured until I made it to the Castle of Ordeal and the man on the first floor said you could enter because you had the Crown! That is when I realized why Astos REALLY wanted the Crown, and I was more impressed with him as a villain then ever! _

_This story was meant to explain a few of the questions that naturally went unanswered in the game, such as why on Earth was the King of the Dark Elves all alone, without bodyguards? Why were the Dark Elves themselves only found in the Ice Cave and the Sky Castle (and of course the past Temple of Fiends)? How was Astos able to make it to Matoya to steal the Crystal and then make it back to his castle? And of course I wanted to point out to any who missed it that you did need the Crown to enter the Castle of Ordeal, and that must have been Astos' real goal all along. _

_I hope you enjoyed this little drabble, and a review would be much appreciated! _


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